Publications

Web

Veterans - MBA

discharge. $4,750 Tuition Assistance (TA) Program HBS does not participate in this program. Veteran Readiness and Employment (formerly VocRehab) Veterans are strongly cautioned that VRE may not meet the entire cost of the program. HBS is... View Details

Web

Cross-Registration Policies and FAQ - MBA

deadline. Courses dropped after the HBS deadline will incur the full course fee. What is the X/Y Schedule? Most HBS courses meet on consecutive days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, and some Wednesdays (X schedule days) or some Wednesdays,... View Details

01 Sep 2023
News

Money Does Grow on (Family) Trees

father’s family, and Diamond was less familiar with that side of his ancestry. A series of coincidences more than a decade later put him in touch with a previously unknown cousin on his father’s side. That introduction opened the door to View Details

Keywords: April White; Illustrations by Fabio Consoli; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

01 May 2013
What Do You Think?

Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?

What do you think? Original Article Servant leadership is an age-old concept, a term loosely used to suggest that a leader's primary role is to serve others, especially employees. I witnessed a practical example of it at a ServiceMaster board View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

Web

How to Create a Psychologically Safe Workplace - Recruiting

groups, cross-functional teams charged with solving problems, peer-to-peer learning, digital suggestion boxes, and organizing staff meetings to leave time for everyone’s input. Responding Proactively A proactive response to feedback and... View Details

March 2021
Case

Astralis Group: Determining a Brand Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emilie Billaud

After launching a Danish esports company in July 2019, and going public in December 2019 with multiple brands associated with different games, the Astralis leadership team was contemplating a shift to a single, corporate brand. While the original arguments for... View Details

February 2017 (Revised May 2022)
Case

The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle

In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the... View Details

March–April 2017
Article

Innovation Outcomes in a Distributed Organization: Intrafirm Mobility and Access to Resources

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

Prior research has established a relation between intra-firm mobility and innovation outcomes at distributed organizations. The literature has also uniformly agreed on the mechanism underlying this relationship: the sharing of tacit knowledge and recombination of ideas... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Innovation and Invention; Resource Allocation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

March 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Teaching Note

The TELUS Share Conversion Proposal

By: Lucy White and Benjamin C. Esty

On February 21, 2013, TELUS announced a proposal to convert the firm's non-voting shares into voting shares on a one-to-one basis, thereby eliminating the firm's dual class structure. Shareholders were scheduled to vote on the proposal at the firm's annual general... View Details

Article

Why Do Pro Forma and Street Earnings Not Reflect Changes in GAAP? Evidence from SFAS 123R

By: Ian D. Gow, Mary E. Barth and Daniel Taylor

This study examines how key market participants—managers and analysts—responded to SFAS 123R's controversial requirement that firms recognize stock-based compensation expense. Despite mandated recognition of the expense, some firms' managers exclude it from pro forma... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Read Now

May 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Supplement

H-Soft (B-2): Vikram Sharma

By: Ramana Nanda

Siddharth Kapoor, the Founder and CEO of H-Soft Mumbai, reflected on his meetings as he walked out of VC Ventures' offices in Mumbai. After a few months of intensely pitching his startup to several different investors, he finally had a term sheet in hand. Despite this... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Venture Capital Term Sheet; India; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Investment; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships; India

May 2009 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Verne Global: Building a Green Data Center in Iceland

Verne Global, a pioneering startup created to build the first large-scale data center in Iceland, faces critical challenges regarding its green strategy. Verne Co-Founder Isaac Kato is tasked with evaluating how the company can most successfully market and sell the... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Startups; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Sales; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Green Technology Industry; Service Industry; Iceland

September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Metso Paper: Globalization of Finnish Metal Workshops

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Marikka Heikkila and Kalle Lyytinen

Metso Paper, the world's largest producer of paper machines, aims to transform itself into a knowledge- and information-based service and solution provider for the paper industry by aggressively exploiting information technologies. In the fall of 2002, Jorma Hujala, a... View Details

Keywords: Production; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Technology; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Management; Machinery and Machining; Expansion; Service Delivery; Manufacturing Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Finland

Find at Harvard

July 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Case

Mercer Management Consulting (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Echenberg

Insurance giant Marsh & McLennan acquires management consulting firms Temple, Barker & Sloane (TBS) in 1987 and Strategic Planning Associates (SPA) in 1990 and sets out to merge the two. The merger proceeds slowly and painfully. Following the February 1990 merger,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Horizontal Integration; Consulting Industry

December 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Poland's A2 Motorway

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (AWSA) is a consortium of 18 firms that won a concession to build and operate Poland's first private toll road. In June 2000, AWSA's chief financial officer, Wojciech Gebicki, is preparing for a meeting with the projects' lead bankers to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Cost vs Benefits; Project Finance; Projects; Construction Industry; Transportation Industry; Poland

December 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Compensation at Level 3 Communications

Level 3's unique compensation plan rewarded managers for the firm's performance only if the firm's stock price movement exceeded that of the market. This design was intended to maximize shareholder value by tying manager's performance more closely to that of the firm,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Telecommunications Industry

January 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

General Scanning, Inc. (B)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Sean McClenaghan and Charles Tillen

After meeting with a mediator, Montagu and Davis decided their goals were not in accordance, and Davis left General Scanning. Montagu and Brosens wrote three-year objectives for the company and proceeded to search for a new professional manager. Chuck Winston took on... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Restructuring; Change; Business or Company Management; Ownership Stake; Strategic Planning; Hardware

Every major company is grappling with the meaning and application of sustainability in relation to its geographic location, industry and business model. Similarly, more and more institutional investors are incorporating sustainability into their... View Details

November–December 2022
Article

Your Company Needs a Space Strategy. Now.

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Alan MacCormack and Brendan Rosseau

Space is becoming a potential source of value for businesses across a range of sectors, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, and tourism. To understand what the opportunities are for your company, the authors advise you to consider the four ways in... View Details

Keywords: Space Strategy; Emerging Markets; Natural Resources; Analytics and Data Science; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Competition; Aerospace Industry